Reading, Running, Begging,

I have never read The Fountainhead, but I have read the Spark's notes summaries for it in preparation for the GRE Literature test. (In fact, I have read many, many, many novels and plays in that context for the same purpose.) While there actually were some texts that I found enjoyable using that method of consumption, The Fountainhead was not among them. I'm sure Eddie (and everyone else) will agree that making a judgement in this manner is entirely unfair to Ms. Rand. Nonetheless, I felt compelled to promulgate my feelings about her work; I have a vague recollection of it being the least enjoyed summaries in Spark Notes collection of 101 pieces. [Perhaps the fact that it was selected as one of the 101 most important works of fiction from everything written since the beginning of writing in every language does lend it some merit, however...]

My run with Ben went very well: we ran 2.5 miles, and would have probably gone farther, had his knee not been injured. This is not to suggest that he was the weakest link, because I'm sure he wanted to run alot faster, but adopted a slow pace for my sake. Contrary to what Eddie might suggest, we BOTH ran like men, not like girls.

I heard a report a while back from a linguist on the use of the term "beg the question" (as I think was used in Musings on Mortality). He noted that originally the term meant "to avoid a question by not answering it", as dictionary.com notes: "beg the question, to assume the truth of the very point raised in a question."

Merriam-Webster notes this first meaning as well: "beg the question 1 : to pass over or ignore a question by assuming it to be established or settled," but also gives (what some would consider) the corrupted definition, "2 : to elicit a question logically as a reaction or response ."

Over time, it seems, this second meaning was somehow adopted, though it is nearly opposite in meaning (as opposite as "to invite" and "to avoid). Just a thought on begging.